Railway



M. W. VER.

RAIL A No. 426,051. PatemdApr. 22,1890.

(No Model.)

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l lr\|\/ NTD WITMEEEEE R UNITED STATES PATENT OEEICE.

MOSES VHITE OLIVER, OF LAXVRENOE, MASSAOI-IUSE'VS.

RAILWAY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 426,051, dated April 22, 1890.

Application filed May 25, 1889.

To a/ZZ whom it may concern.:

Be it known that l,MosEs WHITE OLIVER, of Lawrence, in the county of Essex and State of Massachusetts, have invented new and useful Improvements in Railways, of which the following is a specification.

The object of this invention is, first, to furnish a support for the common rail of a railroad or railway in such a manner that the weight borne by a passing wheel shall be distributed on two or more cross-ties, (oron two or more parts of any kind of substructure,) and so that the said weight can never come wholly on one cross-tie or on any one point of the substructure, and, second, to make such support elastic, whereby the railroad superstructure is made uniformly elastic within its own construction and the weight of the train is diffused over as great an extent of the substructure as possible. To accomplish these Objects I place a sub-rail whose under side or bottom is straight longitudinally and whose upper surface or top is formed in regular and gradual undulations lon gitudin ally, as shown, between the cross-ties or substructure and the common rail, supporting said common rail directly by said sub-rail at intervals, all as below set forth, and illustrated in the accom panying drawings, in whichn Figure l is a plan view ci' a railway-rail embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal vertical section of the same. Fig. 3 is a cross vertical section on line Fig. 2. Fig. 4. is a longitudinal vertical section taken across a joint of the sub-rail. Fig. 5 isa cross vertical section on line y, Fig. 4..

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.

A is a common railroad-rail, B is my subrail, and O C are crossties, constructed as usual. The subn'ail B directly supports the rail A. This sub-rail is of uneven thickness vertically, and while its under side is straight its upper side or surface is gradually and regularly undulatin glongitudinally, as shown, so that the rail A bears on the sub-rail B at intervals-that is, at the summits only of the undulations-and not continuously. The thickest or bearing portions or summits B of the suba-ail are situated between the oros. ties, while the thinnest portions Il or valleys Serial No. 312,125. (No model.)

are next the cross-ties, so that directly over the cross-ties are open spaces between the common rail and the sub-rail. It will be seen that there is no sudden thickening or thinning of the rail, as would be the cascina-vertical or nearly vert-ical rise of the surface, but the rise and fall of the surface are gradual and regular, so that such surface is truly an undulating one. By this means I accomplish a better distribution and diffusion of the weight borne by each passing wheel upon the crossties or substructure, and avoid the concentration of the whole of said weightupon each and every cross-tie, or upon a single point of. the substructure, as is the case with the common track, occasionin g the depression of the crossties irregularly into the ballast and otherwise disturbing and distorting the track, so as t0 cause wear and tear to track and rolling-stock and requiring frequent tamping up of the cross-ties and other repairing. Again, by means of my improvement I obtain a constantly uniform and beneficial elasticity of the track within its own construction without necessarily depressing the cross-ties unduly into the ballast. This cannot be obtained with the common track, which has no beneticial elasticity except what is allowed by the yielding or depression of the cross-ties or other substructure.

In carrying out my invention I propose to secure the common rail, sub-rail, and substructure together in any suitable and practicable manner. In the drawings, at the crossties, (see Figs. l and 3,) lips E F extend over the opposite flanges of the rail A and are made integral, respectively, by means of connections E F with base-plates E F, which extend under the rail, as shown, between said rail and the cross-tie. The extensions E" F of the base-plates may be secured to the cross-tie by spikes. The connections E F are provided on their inner sides with proj ections or ledges e f, which rest upon the surface of the sub-rail B, which at that point does not touch the rail A. At the sub-rail joints (see Figs. 4 and 5) fish-plates II I eX- tend over the opposite iianges of the rail A, and are made integral, respectively, by means of connect-ions Il I with base-plates I-I I, which extend under the rail, as shown, be-

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tween said rail and the cross-tie. The extensions H" Il of the base-plates may be secured to the cross-tie by spikes. The connections H I are provided on their inner sides with projections or ledges h i, which rest on corresponding steps bb formed in the sub-rail B. These steps appear on the oppos1te edges of the sub-rail only when the surface of said sub-rail rises from its lowest polnt, as will be seen by referring t0 Figs. 3 and 5, in the former of which no step appears, while in the latter the step is at its deepest portion. Suitable bolts and nuts k l secure the fish-plates to the rail. The fishplates H I preferably extend from one crosstie to that on the other side of the joint, as

shown in broken lines in Fig. 4.

In practice the joints of the rails A are placed at about the middle of the rails B, and the joints of the rails B at about the middle of the rails A, and, each of the rails A being bolted to the joint-chair at the joints of the sub-rail, they are firmly fastened to the crossties at about the middle of their length, so that contraction and expansion take place equally to and from this middle point. By the same means creeping is effectually prevented. By means of my invention, in which there 1s such distribution and diffusion of weight and uniform elasticity of the track, the wear and. tear of the road-bed, bridges, track, and rolllng-stock is reduced, and in consequence the noise decreased, conveyance made safer and more comfortable, and the cost of maintenance diminished.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure byLetters Patent, is-

l. The combination, with the ordinary rail, as A, of a railway, of the supporting sub-rail B, itself supported by the cross-ties or substructure of the railway, the bottom or under side of said sub-rail being straight longitudinally, and the surface or top being formed in gradual undulations longitudinally, whereby said sub-rail becomes gradually thicker and higher from its thinnest or lowest points to its thickest or highest points, and as gradually thinner and lower from its thickest or highest points to its thinnest orlowest points, the rail A bearing directly on the sub-rail at the highest points only of the latter, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination of the ordinary rail, as A, of a railway, of the supportingsub-rail'B, itself supported by the cross-ties or substructure of the railway, the bottom or under side of said sub-rail being straight'longitudinally and the surface or top being formed in gradual undulations longitudinally, whereby said .subrail becomes gradually thicker and higher from its thinnest or lowest points to its thickest or highest points, and as gradually thinl ner and lower from its thickest or highest points to its thinnest or lowest points, said surface or top being provided at its edges at all but its lowest points with the steps b b, substantially as described.

3. The combination, with the ordinary rail A, sub-rail B B B, and cross-ties C, of the Y lips E F, connections E F', base-plates E F, and extensions E" F", alllnade integral,

and said connections being provided with the 

